Diaspora Café: D.C. Reviewed by Guesnerth Josué Perea

Diaspora Café: D.C.

Anthology edited by Jeffrey Banks and Maritza Rivera

Reviewed by: Guesnerth Josué Perea

Publisher:  Day Eight Books

Date Published: August 1, 2022

Length: 66 Pages

ISBN: 978-1737584469

Learning from Black Lives: A review of Diaspora Café: D.C.

In the last few years, a growing understanding of Blackness has necessitated a more holistic understanding of the Black experience. This includes defining Blackness, not only as an African American phenomenon, but as a lived-experience and expression of humanity rooted in and seen all throughout the African Diaspora, for example in 2021 the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported that over 134 million people identify themselves as Afro-descendants in Latin America. 

This growing understanding of the African Diaspora has led to the publishing of works that have given us an understanding of even more Black perspectives. Here, in the United States, one of these perspectives is expressed by the lived experiences of Black people who self-identify as AfroLatinx. Diaspora Café: D.C., published this past August by Day Eight, is one of these new works, which seeks to give us new understandings of Blackness by sharing poems written by diverse authors who are AfroLatinx and reside in the region that is colloquially known as the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) area. It truly brings to life what Ethelbert Miller, a featured poet writes in “Untitled,” one of the first poems of this collection: “at the end of the day we learn from our lives and the lives of others”

Even though there seems to be a slight misunderstanding of the Blackness inherent in folks defined as Latinxs at the outset of the book, Latinxs can be Black as well as non-Black, Jeffrey Banks and Maritza Rivera edit a beautiful collection of poetry that brings “together shared experiences of the different cultures and worlds of our ancestors.” The importance of this line, which Rivera herself writes in her note at the beginning of the collection, is important because it grounds the reading and understanding of the poetry contained therein. 

AfroLatinidad is often misunderstood myopically, as one single expression of Blackness that hails from the region that we know as Latin America, and the U.S. However, as some of us know in the AfroLatinx world, there is not one AfroLatinidad but many different experiences of people of African Descent all throughout the American continent and the Caribbean. Pair these experiences with the lived experiences of African Americans and people from the African Diaspora all over the world and we start to gain an understanding of Blackness that is more holistic. This is where Diaspora Café: D.C. shines, it brings together perspectives from folks of the African Diaspora in the DMV and allows us to gain unique insights into what the great AfroDiasporic writer Frantz Fanon hails as the lived experience of the Black person.

We see this as we engage in the diverse topics discussed in the collection. In Saleem Abdal-Khaaliq’s “Yellow Brick Road” there is a commentary on the immigrant experiences of Black Folks “people of color/ with blue collars/ & no green card/ meet red, white/ & blue smiles/ head on/ in white collars/ who use invisible/ ink to redline…” AfroLatinxs, much like African-Americans, have suffered the effects of redlining and racial prejudice at the hand of white Americans, especially as they have arrived in the United States.

In Joy Alford’s “Caribbean Girl,” a poem which discusses a girl’s journey down a city street, references to the Diaspora are seen as the writer understands that this Caribbean Girl, who could be any girl of African Descent, has led her to recognize her Blackness and her connection to the Diaspora “The Caribbean girl/ Shows me the way to freedom… My feet dance the beat/ That calls and greets the ancestors… It is they who have told me… I am the Caribbean girl!”

“Transient” by Jane Alberdston Coralin features a beautiful story of a deity whose understanding of his Blackness grows as he journeys from Puerto Rico to Harlem, to France and then back to his home in Puerto Rico, each time encountering other Black people who help him understand his Blackness. In Kamilah Valentin Diaz’s “No Sabe Na,” written in Spanish but translated by the poet, there is a recognition of the anti-Blackness and racism inherent in Latinx communities “I’ve heard people say/ that racism doesn’t exist/ In what galaxy did they live/ that they lapped up that lie so/ damn quick?”

Nick Leininger’s “Passing” is an interesting exploration into the often-complex identities of AfroLatinxs, since, just as with other Black communities, there are AfroLatinxs who may be able to pass as white, “They think that I’m white/ The truth is that I am white/ But I’m also Black.” This poem is preceded by his powerful

 “The First Time I Felt Black” which describes his gaining an appreciation of his Blackness and relates to us a time when he realized who he was “A kid I thought was my friend went on a long rant about ‘n*ggers’/ I took a look around and realized I was the only black/ person on this bus.” 

And lastly, Manuel Mendez’s “Ode to los Mayate,” written in Spanglish, a staple vernacular of AfroLatinx communities, makes a powerful statement about claiming Blackness and reclaiming a word Mayate, known in some Latinx communities, specifically communities hailing from the Dominican Republic, as a derogatory term when referring to African Americans. “I realized it early (from childhood) /I realized it after our conversation when you told me,/ You are not Black!/ They are mayate/ You speak Spanish. When you talked about me/ and thought I did not understand you… Or when you looked at my hair and my nose… that’s when I understood my blackness/ and recognized the mayate that I am.” Mendez’s poem, which engages many issues with which AfroLatinxs are faced, powerfully reminds the reader that even those who speak languages other than English suffer from the same discrimination described by other poets in the collection, such as Jeffrey Banks and henry 7. reneau, jr, and that oftentimes this discrimination comes from one’s own family members.

All these experiences are common within the African Diaspora and beautifully outlined in Diaspora Café: D.C. Understanding the lived experiences of Black people is the only way that we will strive to live in an Anti-Racist society and affirm all expressions of Blackness as being important in our struggle against white supremacy. By highlighting different stories of not passing, of gaining a Black consciousness, of immigration, of love, we gain an insight that is seldom seen in Black collections of poetry and are invited into seeing Blackness more fully.

Diaspora Cafe D.C. is edited by Jeffrey Banks and Maritza Rivera and the contributors include: Ethelbert Miller, Saleem Abdal-Khaaliq, J. Joy “Sistah Joy” Alford, Jane Alberdeston, Kamilah Mercedes Valentín Díaz, Nick Leininger, Stephani E.D. McDow, Manuel Méndez, Hermond Palmer, henry 7. reneau, jr., Allison Whittenberg, Christine Williams, alongside poems by the editors. 

Guesnerth Josué Perea is Executive Director of the afrolatin@ forum, Founder and Co-Curator of the AfoLatine Theology Project, Co-Host of the Majestad Prieta Podcast, and Associate Pastor of Metro Hope Church. His research on Afro-Latinidad has been part of various publications including IU’s Engaging Religion, Let Spirit Speak! Cultural Journeys through the African Diaspora and the Revista de Estudios Colombianos. Josué was named by the newspaper amNewYork as one of five Colombians “making a mark” in New York City. Josué holds a MA in Theology and BA in Latin American History.

29 March 2023